Behind Closed Doors
by randomfanfics98
Summary: Natsuya notices something is off about Nao, with the grey haired teen constantly acting strange at school. Natsuya decides to probe into it, and soon realizing the horrors that his best friend had been facing all alone. TRIGGER WARNINGS: Child abuse, domestic violence. Rated T to be safe.


**National Child Abuse prevention month (US)- April**

 **Trigger warnings: Child abuse, violence. Please do not read if you are easily affected.**

* * *

"So here is the tournament schedule for August, we have to decide who will be participating in what events then I'll take care of the registration forms with sensei and-" a sudden gust of cold wind blew through the pool area, blowing Nao and Natsuya's swim jackets way above their chest area. As Nao rushed to pull down his jacket to cover his chest, he hurriedly finished his sentence, putting down the clipboard he was holding. "-and then we'll be all set to take on Regionals."

"Nao, what's wrong?" Natsuya tilted his head in confusion at his friend. Why was Nao so frantically trying to cover his chest? And Natsuya could've sworn he saw some marks that resembled scars on the skin.

"N-Nothing's wrong, don't worry." Nao shuddered, turning to walk away to the locker room. He still hadn't perfected the art of hiding things from Natsuya. But Natsuya was somewhat of an idiot, so he'd probably forget things as soon as he saw them. Nao was too grateful for that fact.

Natsuya simply shrugged, walking off to help some of the other members with their swimming technique. Nao smiled. Natsuya made a great captain. Both of them were selected to be captain last year, but Nao turned it down, opting to be the team manager instead. He never believed he had the same charisma to lead like Natsuya did, no matter how much his friend tried to convince him otherwise.

' _You really think you can do anything, you little piece of shit?"_

Nao froze, dropping his clipboard in the locker room, clattering to the floor with a loud echo. The memories were coming back again. No. He couldn't afford to be distracted during swim practice. Not in front of his juniors. Stuffing the papers into his locker, he gripped his chest. That gust of wind was too close for comfort. Running a hand along his bare skin underneath the jacket, the scars from last night were still fresh, stinging on touch. Nao was grateful he didn't have to swim because of his eye condition. The chlorinated water would've only made the scars worse, not to mention impossible to hide. Sighing, he adjusted his jacket once more, making absolutely sure no sudden impacts would reveal the secrets hidden under. Tucking the garment under his pants and zipping it up all the way, he returned back to the pool. He still needed to train the 4 first-years in their reaction times. At least that would keep his mind occupied for the time being. Enough to stop him from recalling unwanted nightmares.

Swim practice came to a close without incident, everyone packing up their stuff to leave after their quick showers. Nao didn't want to go back to his house, yet he couldn't stay any longer. It was too much for him to keep up the act. He had to go back, no matter how much it would hurt. He waited for everyone else to leave, turning off the lights and grabbing his stuff, walking out of the clubroom. It was not a good day. As he walked out of the school gate, wiping sweat from his forehead, he could hear Natsuya sprinting after him. He didn't have the energy to outrun the boisterous teen.

"Nao, wait up!" Natsuya was panting, gripping Nao's shoulder for support. Nao slowed to a halt, gripping Natsuya's arm to make sure he didn't fall and hit his head like the doofus he was.

"Natsuya? What's wrong? Did you need something?" Nao was certainly confused. Why had Natsuya bothered to come back for him? They normally went their separate ways after swim practice, Natsuya going home with Ikuya. "Ikuya's not with you today?"

"I told him I'll catch up at the train station later." Natsuya pushed the topic aside, straightening himself. "What's up with you? You've been acting a little weird the past month, ever since that eye surgery of yours. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Natsuya. Relax. I've just been tired lately, no big deal." Nao patted his friend on the shoulder, turning back to the direction of his house and leaving. "You should catch up with Ikuya, don't keep him waiting too long."

"No. Nao. Listen to me." Natsuya grabbed his shoulder, stopping him dead. Natsuya could really be serious when he wanted to be, and now was one of the times, a frown hardening on his face where a cheery smile normally sat. "You've been there for me during the past 2 years, through all my family problems. Now is the time for me to return the favour."

"…" Natsuya could never understand the true depth of what went on behind the closed doors of his house. It was not a home. He kept silent, expressionless, simply waiting for Natsuya to say something else.

"You're my best friend. It's what best friends do." Natsuya persisted, sighing. "Just… I just want you to be able to tell me anything that's on your mind, so I can help you, as friends do, you know?" Just drop the topic already.

"Thanks. I'll let you know if I need any help." Nao angled his head back for the last glance at his friend for the day, having turned away from Natsuya, back in the direction of his house. "I really gotta go now. I'll see you tomorrow at school."

Finally chasing Natsuya away to the train station after he forced Nao to fist-bump, Nao sprinted back to his place. He was already 30 minutes later than the time he'd promised he'd go back to his house. That meant 30 belt whips, assuming his father wasn't drunk enough yet. Shuddering at the thought of one more whip per minute he was late, Nao sped up, hightailing it back to the last place he wanted to be.

* * *

"I'm home." Nao lied as he stepped through the front doors of his house.

"Oh. So you've finally decided to return home. Where have you been, faggot?" the slurred voice echoed from the dining room to the main door, along with the unmistakable metal clink of a belt being unclipped.

"I was at school, Father. Something came up at club which I had to settle with the teachers and-"

"Stop wasting your time fooling around at school clubs and get yourself a real job! Quit wasting my money!" Nao's speech was cut off mid-sentence with a hard whip to his face. Not even 8pm and it's already begun. He hadn't even gone up to his room to put down his stuff yet.

"Do I need to remind you how much that stupid eye operation of yours cost? Do I?!" another hard whip, this time to his chest. It still stung through the two layers of clothing he had on. Even though it was a minor surgery, it cost approximately 600,000¥, due to the anaesthesia and post-surgery medications. His mother wouldn't have minded shelling out that amount of money to stop her son from going blind. If she were still alive.

"Thanks to you, I didn't have enough money save my beloved wife. Do I need to remind you of that every day?" that was not true, and Nao knew it. She had died over 3 years ago, just before he entered junior high school. However, over time, his father's mind had somehow fabricated memories that the death happened recently. Probably due to all that after-work drinking with his colleagues. His father had been jobless at the time, rendering their lack of funds to save her. Besides, her condition had been far too critical for any amount of medical treatment to bring her back.

"That's not true and we both know it." Talking back to his father was practically asking for more beatings.

"Silence, you worthless kid!" as expected, talking back was met with another hard whip to the chest, opening up the scars from last night. Clutching his chest from the pain, Nao's legs buckled, combined with the strain of having to sprint all the way back from school. Being on the ground meant he was a perfect target for beating.

"Now then, you are 40 minutes late today." The grown man brandished the leather belt in his left hand, checking his watch on his right hand. "You know what this means." At least his father wasn't completely drunk today, Nao knew what that meant for his "punishment".

The cracking of a leather belt echoed late into the night, well past 9pm. In a quiet neighbourhood, if you paid attention, you might have been able to hear the cracks of a leather whip and the groans of pain coming from a young boy, from an otherwise unsuspicious house. The neighbours never interacted, knowing the owner of said house to be an alcohol abuser. An unusual part of a small province where none of the neighbours interacted or even knew each other.

A grown man could be seen stalking out the door to buy himself some dinner after he was done. Leaving his son in a bleeding, aching mess on the floor. Nao would never cry in front of his father. He wouldn't give that drunkard the pleasure of seeing him break down in tears.

Picking himself up, Nao crawled with his backpack all the way up to the second floor, and into the bathroom, stripping, and turning on the shower. He winced as the water sept into the open wounds, but they had to be disinfected. The stinging pain would cease after a while anyway. Filling the bathtub with water, he watched as his blood seeped out, staining the water a light red. The warm water on a cold night provided a relaxing feeling, away from the horror of the house that had just left. A far cry from the feeling of cold, chlorinated swimming pool water.

Stepping out of the bath after a good long 30 minutes, Nao felt his knees buckle beneath him. The joints at the back had been hit earlier. Granted, he could still walk, but not as good as normal. He had to hold on to the wall for support all the way to his bedroom, collapsing on his bed after managing to close the door. He could only hope he'd be able to walk properly by tomorrow. His father had done well in keeping the visible wounds to the chest area, out of sight from the general public. Sighing and clutching his chest, Nao checked the time on his phone: 10:07pm. By the time his father came back, he'd probably just go to bed, ignoring his son for the rest of the night. Locking his door wouldn't do any good, his father had proven he knew how to pick a lock when he really wanted to.

Setting his alarm clock for 6am, he ignored any homework he might've had from the day. He was too tired to care, much less do it. Stomach growling, Nao let his arm fall slack onto the bed, drifting off into a restless sleep.

* * *

"And so, this is how you find the angle of a circle that has 3 lines, 1 extending out of it. All you need is a radius, and one angle…." Blah blah blah. Natsuya couldn't understand a single thing his math teacher was saying, nor did he care. Sitting in the back row of the classroom with his best friend, it was the perfect place to drone out and build his stationery tower.

"Psst, Nao. Can you lend me a…" Natsuya was about to ask for an eraser to actually erase something he'd written 15 minutes ago, since his own eraser was buried somewhere in the delicate fortress he'd made. That is, until he noticed Nao slumped on the table, snoring softly. _"That's strange. Nao never sleeps in class, but he has seemed a bit more tired the past few months. I wonder what's going on…"_

Natsuya's thought process was cut short by the teacher looking straight at his direction. Grabbing his water bottle, he squirted some water at Nao, immediately waking the boy up. This specific teacher didn't take kindly to students sleeping in his class. Natsuya had knocked over his tower in the process, but he didn't really care right now.

"Kirishima-kun!" the teacher pointed the chalk at Natsuya, singling him out of a class of 30. "I understand that you are the captain of the swim club, but my class is not the place for you to be splashing water at your classmates!" Natsuya flushed red, the rest of the class giggling at his antics. At least he'd stopped Nao from getting into trouble. Nao was wiping the water out of his face, slowly waking up and grabbing his pen to look like he was paying attention in class.

"Since you have time to play in my class, I assume you've understood the lesson, and you can come up here to solve this problem, right?" Natsuya stood from his seat nervously, walking up to the board, taking the chalk from the smirking teacher. He had no idea what was going on in class for the past 30 minutes. Glancing at the diagram of a circle and some lines in it and sticking out of it, Natsuya smiled sheepishly, hiding his face from the smirking teacher.

" _If this follows basic trigonometry rules we learnt last week, I should be fine."_ Natsuya wrote some random crap on the board, trying desperately to remember the lesson he'd bothered to pay attention in last week.

"Hm. Very good Kirishima-kun. You'd be correct, if I asked you to find the angle of a triangle." The teacher snatched the chalk from Natsuya's hand, towering over the boy. "I asked you to find the angle outside a circle! Come see me in the teacher's room during lunch, after this lesson."

The teacher dismissed Natsuya back to his seat, the boy desperately trying to ignore the giggles of his classmates from getting humiliated in front of the entire class. Slapping Nao on the back, he slumped down on his seat. He'd taken the fall for Nao and gotten humiliated in the process. Not that he really minded. "You owe me one."

"Yes, yes. I'll give you my half of my lunch later." Nao chuckled, breathing a sigh of relief. He really had to thank Natsuya. He was still tired, despite sleeping 8 hours the previous night. He had to get up extra early every morning so that he could leave before his father even woke up. That in itself was tiring. The lack of dinner from last night wasn't helping either.

"Seriously, what's up with you lately? You normally don't sleep during class." The teacher was not paying attention to the swimmers once again, giving Natsuya the opportunity to talk to his friend during class.

"I guess I'm just tired. More late-night studying. Exams are coming up after all." That was a complete lie, and Nao knew it. But Natsuya didn't have to know the truth. It'd be easier on both of them if Natsuya didn't know the truth.

"True. I really need to start studying for exams, especially math. At this rate, Mura-sensei's going to kill me when I go to his office later." Natsuya groaned, turning to pay attention for the rest of the class. Nao was a lot better at math than he was. Nao could get away with sleeping in one or two classes and still be able to ace the exam, he was just that smart.

The duo spent the rest of the lesson half daydreaming, half paying attention. Natsuya leaned more towards daydreaming. He'd ask Nao for his notes later, assuming Nao had bothered to write any like he usually did. Assuming Nao wasn't too out of it.

"Class dismissed." The teacher picked up his books from the table, turning to leave the classroom. "Please complete the homework by next week, I'll run through it in class. Kirishima-kun, follow me to the teacher's office."

"I'll catch you later, Nao." Natsuya smirked, standing from his seat and slapping his friend on the back. "You're not out of the woods yet."

"Yes, yes. Just go already." Nao shot back in a playful tone. The slap Natsuya gave him was far different from what his father gave. There was no hurt intended behind it. It was nice to feel this way for a change.

"Kirshima. NOW." The teacher raised his voice, still standing between the door and the classroom. It was not wise to keep this teacher waiting.

"Coming!"

* * *

"Blah blah blah…" Natsuya really wasn't paying attention to the lecture this teacher was giving him, drowning most of it out as white noise while he looked around the staff room. "Kirishima, whatever am I going to do with you? This is your last year in this school, and you're barely scraping through my class. How are you ever going to graduate? You have so much potential, I don't want you being unable to graduate just because of this one subject." Mura-sensei's tone changed from lecturing to a calmer demeanour, showing some form of concern for the teen. While strict, Mura-sensei did care a lot for his students and their welfare, academic or otherwise. He was Natsuya and Nao's form teacher as well.

"I'm sorry Mura-sensei. I've just been a little more focused on club activities than academics recently, and your subject is still my weakest one." Natsuya rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, Mura-sensei having finally caught his attention. He wasn't particularly a bad student, he was just bad at math in general. "I'll work harder, please excuse me." He hung his head down in a matter of apology, earning a slight smile from the teacher.

"At ease, Kirishima-kun. You know you can always see me after class hours if you need help in this subject or any other matters." The man's demeanour softened. While strict, he did care a lot for his students, wanting only the best for them.

"Hm…" Natsuya paused, unsure how to phrase a sudden change of topic. While he played oblivious to Nao's recent behaviour during and after class, he was starting to suspect something disturbingly amiss.

"Is something the matter, Kirishima-kun?"

"Mura-sensei, how do I put this…" Natsuya scratched his chin, his eyes darting back and forth the staff room. "What do you know about domestic abuse?"

That did not come out so well. It did not come out the way Natsuya had intended at all, taking the teacher aback in his seat. Mura-sensei's face hardened, his eyebrows twisting down into a concerned frown.

"Kirishima. Are you trying to tell me that your family is abusive?" the teacher lowered his voice to a barely audible whisper, not wanting anyone else in the common staff room to be able to hear him. If his students were having family problems, he sure as hell didn't want any busybodies sticking their noses into it. His cubicle neighbour had a particularly bad habit of sticking his nose into other people's business and eavesdropping where he wasn't wanted.

"No no! It's not like that…" Natsuya tried to keep his volume down, wanting as much privacy as possible. "I think one of my friends might have an abusive family. And… and I don't know what to do." Natsuya managed to choke out, his voice taking on a serious tone he didn't even know he was capable of producing. He didn't disclose Nao's identity, but he had a feeling Mura-sensei knew anyway.

"It's good on you that you're concerned for your friend." Mura-sensei leaned forward, placing a hand on Natsuya's shoulder. "From what I know, abusers tend to hide a lot of it from the public, making sure their actions aren't easily noticeable. Sometimes, they also brainwash their victims into believing they can't tell anyone. Honestly, if you hadn't told me, I never would've guessed. You're remarkably observant, Kirishima."

"Is there anything you can do about it?" Natsuya was deeply disturbed to say the least. It would explain a lot of Nao's recent actions.

"Unfortunately, I can't. The best advice I can give you, is to tell your friend to gather as much evidence as possible and go to the police. They're the only ones who can actually do something. I'm sorry." Mura-sensei sighed, slumping back into his chair.

"I see. Thank you very much, Mura-sensei." Natsuya stood from the chair, giving his teacher a slight bow, and leaving the staff room.

Natsuya stood outside the staff room for a few moments. He still had 20 minutes left on lunch break, before needing to return to the next class, which happened to be English. He wanted to believe he was wrong, that he was simply misreading the signs Nao was displaying. But he wasn't oblivious. He had paid attention. He'd googled the symptoms: hidden scars, sudden anxiety attacks, reclusiveness, everything pointed to domestic abuse. Natsuya was more observant than he let on, and he knew more things any 15-year-old should not know.

He needed more evidence to confirm his theory. He was going to get to the bottom of the mystery. He was going to help his best friend, no matter what it took.

"Ikuya." Natsuya strode into the first-years' classroom, finding all four of them having lunch together, even though Makoto was from a different form class than the other three. He'd earned a few curious glances from their classmates, wondering why an upperclassman would just waltz in with no explanation.

"Oh, big brother. What are you doing here? You've never come down here at this timing before." Ikuya looked up at Natsuya, just after swallowing a mouthful of food.

"I need to ask you guys something." A sense of seriousness in his voice told the first years that this time, their captain was not here to mess around.

"What is it?" Makoto spoke up, the other three turning dead silent, contrasting the dull hums of conversation in the classroom which they all tuned out as white noise.

"Have you guys noticed Nao acting strange lately?" no point beating about the bush. They probably were not as observant as Natsuya, but they were bound to have noticed something after all the months they spent around Nao during swim practice. Maybe they'd noticed something Natsuya hadn't. It was worth a shot.

"Nothing much really. Except that he always zips his jacket up all the way, no matter how hot it is. I've never once seen him without his chest fully covered." Makoto provided, his face in serious concentration.

"One time I was telling him about something nice my sister cooked for dinner, and I asked him if he had any siblings or if he knew how to cook nice food. He just had this weird smile, and he said he can cook. It looked like he was sad or regretting something, you know?" Asahi added, remarkably thoughtful considering the child's usual behaviour. "Maybe it was pity? I don't really know what it was."

Natsuya didn't have any words for that. That was the first time he'd heard of it. In hindsight, he noticed Nao had never once mentioned his family life or even anything about his life outside of school and the swim club. Maybe he wasn't as observant as he'd wanted to be.

"Natsuya-senpai, what's wrong?" Haruka's voice cut Natsuya out of his own thoughts, the older teen not even realizing that he'd been spacing out.

"Oh… nothing." Natsuya snapped out of his thoughts for a moment, turning to leave the classroom and head back to his own. He still had to eat lunch after all. "Thanks guys."

"That was weird." Ikuya commented, watching his brother retreat from the classroom without another word.

* * *

Natsuya returned to his own classroom with 15 minutes left on his lunch break. He'd returned to find a plate of food on his table, with Nao gently snoring on the table next to it. The plate was fuller than usual, with some extra pieces of meat heaped on top of the rice. Nao really had stuck to his word and given him extra.

Natsuya cast a gentle gaze on his best friend, sleeping so tense. His shoulders were all tensed up, eyes tensed together as if he were having a nightmare, the boy did not look like he was having a peaceful sleep. Natsuya could only wonder if he was even asleep or just faking.

"You idiot. Why didn't you tell me any of this? Is it because you don't trust me?" Natsuya whispered, more to himself than anyone else. "What kind of a best friend am I…?"

He ate the entire plate of food in silence, consumed by his thoughts. He'd had his suspicions for weeks about Nao's recent strange behaviour and asking the first-years simply confirmed his theory. Nao's parents were abusive. Which only left one question: what could he, as Nao's best friend do about it? What could he, a mere 15-year-old, do about it?

He was in no place to be calling the police on Nao's parents, that would probably just make the situation worse if they found out. No, there had to be a better way. He'd either have to get Nao to open up to him by himself or gather evidence in secret.

No matter what, Natsuya vowed to himself, he was going to help his best friend. He was not about to let his best friend suffer alone.

* * *

 **A/N: Notice the subtle ironic language I tried using when referring to Nao's "home"?**

 **This piece may be a little bad quality because I rushed it out after a very long period of procrastination. I don't normally post works I'm not proud of, but I wanted to get it posted before I go.**

 **I had this file sitting in my documents for a long time, but never got around to completing this story until 19 Oct. The main reason I wrote this is to raise awareness of the way abusive parents treat their children. It's all true. Abusive parents will try to hide everything, and outsiders will think everything at home is normal based on the act they put on, and make their children put on for the outside world. So, if any of you have friends acting strange, please check up on them. Try to get them to open up, you might very well be saving their life.**

 **Thank you for reading, and goodbye.**


End file.
